1.
17:31
The ball rolls in Bochum. The hosts toast in classic blue jerseys. Let the wild ride begin!
17:29
After Herbert Grönemeyer’s fantastic Bochum anthem, both teams step out onto the field at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion. It will not be long.
17:21
With Bastian Dankert, one of the most experienced referees in Germany is in charge of this game. The 42-year-old from Rostock is supported by the line assistants Mark Borsch and Marcel Unger.
17:14
Bochum managed to get a point against Cologne last season. In January, the teams drew 2-2. Timo Hübers and Anthony Modeste turned the lead through Gerrit Holtmann before the break. However, Takuma Asano equalized again in the 70th minute. VfL can also make good use of these comeback qualities in this phase of the season.
17:06
There is a lot of rotation in Cologne after the game in the Europa Conference League. Luca Kilian is out anyway due to his red card suspension. For the time being, Kristian Pedersen, Eric Martel, Kingsley Schindler, Linton Maina, Sargis Adamyan and Florian Dietz are on the bench. With Benno Schmitz, Timo Hübers, Florian Kainz, Jonas Hector, Ellyes Skhiri, Steffen Tigges and Jan Thielmann, some well-established players will take their place in the starting XI. In addition, Nikola Soldo remains in the starting eleven, who is also celebrating his debut in the Bundesliga.
16:57
When a new coach comes, interesting personnel decisions can often be observed. For youth coach Heiko Butscher, this means that 18-year-old Tim Oermann is making his Bundesliga debut. Ivan Ordets, Patrick Osterhage and Gerrit Holtmann will also start. For the quartet, Erhan Mašović, Vassilios Lampropoulos, Philipp Förster and Takuma Asano will only sit on the bench for the time being.
16:48
The season is going much better for 1. FC Köln. In the league, the team is back on a solid place in the upper half of the table and the start in the Europa Conference League was also satisfactory. Cologne recently won 4:2 against the Czech 1. FC Slovácko and is thus first in Group D. This positive balance should be confirmed at the troubled VfL.
16:39
Six defeats from six games were too much for those responsible at VfL Bochum. After the most recent 3-1 win at Schalke, Thomas Reis had to resign and youth coach Heiko Butscher took over for one matchday. The former central defender has an unusual routine in this role, as Butscher had to take over for one matchday each in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. His balance sheet is balanced. In the first appearance on the sidelines, his team won 2-1 against Darmstadt. A year and a half later it was a defeat at VfB Stuttgart. We’ll find out shortly what it looks like in the first division.
4:30 p.m
Will Bochum emerge from the crisis? VfL welcomes 1. FC Köln at 5:30 p.m. Warm welcome!